Through the Looking Glass
by LetTheWookieWin
Summary: AU In a world where there was never a Great Prophecy, sixteen year-old Annabeth Chase is sent to recruit Percy Jackson. Naturally, shenanigans ensue. Hints of Percabeth.


**AN – **This turned into a bit of a monster. It's AU and works on the idea that there never was a prophecy. At the end, there's another author's note explaining my thought process if you get confused. Anyway, please enjoy and shoot me a review if you liked it.

**Disclaimer – **Don't own.

...

The first time Annabeth Chase met Percy Jackson, she had to admit, she was somewhat unimpressed. He was clumsy, untrained and a bit of an idiot. Grover, however, seemed to think that the sixteen year-old son of Poseidon was able to breathe rainbows and fart butterflies. It was a constant source of argument between the two old friends. Personally, the daughter of Athena was not entirely certain why they even needed to recruit the new kid. Camp Half-Blood certainly did not need another child of the Big Three and she was sure that he was quite content with his happy little life. Admittedly, his newly discovered half-blood scent would attract all sorts of unpleasant creatures but, as far as she was concerned, if she could handle a lair of Cyclopes at seven, Percy could handle a couple of Minotaurs. Maybe even a hydra. And, if he died, at least the unbearable stench of seawater would no longer be a problem.

Both Thalia and Chiron had disagreed. Sometimes having the twenty-one year-old daughter of Zeus as her legal guardian really sucked. Thalia had been itching to take her from Camp Half-Blood for years, force her to experience life and all that jazz, and the sudden appearance of a new demigod had served as the perfect excuse.

"Annie, he's not safe by himself. Someone needs to bring him to Camp and you guys are roughly the same age. You're the perfect person to ease him into the truth."

"What about Grover?"

Funnily enough, Grover had asked exactly the same question, albeit in a considerably more offended tone.

"Oh, he can come too."

And then Thalia, ever the devious one, had convinced Chiron to present to recruitment as a Quest, an obvious ploy to ensure that Annabeth would not refuse. The daughter of Athena had seen through the facade with ease, but her Gods-forsaken pride had prevented her from calling Thalia out on it. A Quest was a Quest after all.

And so Thalia had purchased a small three bedroom apartment in New York, promptly enrolling her young charge and the furry sidekick in the local high school. The same high school Percy Jackson attended.

Their first meeting had gone poorly. He had been friendly, she had been hostile, Grover had tripped over his fake feet and then a hellhound had attacked.

"What the hell is that thing?"

If she had not been crouched beneath a flimsy metal rack of basketballs, simultaneously attempting to pull an unconscious Grover to safety and fend off the largest hellhound she'd ever faced with one of the satyr's crutches, Annabeth would have laughed at the screechy pitch of Percy's voice.

"A hellhound," she grunted, poking the slavering beast in the eye with her makeshift weapon, wincing as it snarled in protest, "y'know, the massive, bloodthirsty hounds that guard Tartarus?"

"Tar tar sauce?"

"Tartarus! Zeus, are you always such a Seaweed Brain?"

"Hey! That doesn't even make sense!"

Annabeth swiped at the hellhound's face with the crutch as its frothing jaws snapped uncomfortably close to Grover's leg. She had a sneaking suspicion that the satyr would be less than pleased to find himself missing a limb when he regained consciousness.

"I suppose this is probably not the best time to mention that you're the bastard son of the Greek God Poseidon?"

Percy paled.

"I'm stuck in the Gym with a crazy person."

"I think being stuck in the Gym with a crazy person is the least of your problems at the moment, Seaweed Brain."

"What do you mean?"

"Whilst I'm sure Grover and I are pretty tasty," responded Annabeth, her grey eyes rolling as she jabbed the hellhound again, "Lassie here was sent to eat you."

"Why?"

"Because you're the bastard son of Poseidon. Have we not already been over this?"

"Kiss me, Juniper," muttered Grover in his unconscious daze, interrupting the brewing argument, "I'm sexy and I know it."

Percy glanced at the satyr, his eyes widening comically as he noticed the boy's furry, cloven feet for the first time.

"Eeergh! Your friend's a mutant!"

"The politically correct term is 'satyr'. We only refer to them as 'mutants' when they're doing something _really_ irritating." Annabeth tilted her head thoughtfully, "like singing LMFAO songs."

Lassie snarled once more and lunged at the two demigods. The daughter of Athena scowled at the interruption and bopped the hellhound on the head with the crutch she'd now claimed as her own. This, however, only served to annoy the beast further and the blonde was forced to tackle Percy to the ground lest they both fall victim to the many rows of sharp, pointy, drool covered fangs.

"So I'm the son of Poseidon?" queried Percy rather breathlessly, as they huddled behind their rapidly failing basketball rack shelter.

"You're _a_ son of Poseidon," shrugged Annabeth, glaring at Lassie, "the Gods have difficulty keeping it in their pants so there's a very high possibility that you've got hundreds of half-siblings running around."

The sky outside the Gym darkened and there was the distinct rumble of thunder in the distance. Zeus, the raging hypocrite that he was, clearly took offence to Annabeth's observation. Percy, the obtuse moron that _he_ was, remained oblivious to the God's rage.

"So are you a god-child too?"

"Demigod or half-blood, Seaweed Brain. Use the correct terms," she jabbed the hellhound with the metal pole, "and yeah, I am. Daughter of Athena."

"Cool, the Wisdom chick."

"Wow, that's offensive and incredibly degrading."

"Hey," said Percy, completely ignoring Annabeth's comment, "if your mom's the goddess of Wisdom, how come you didn't think to bring a better weapon than a crutch? Surely you must have expected an attack?"

Annabeth's stormy glare shifted from Lassie to Percy.

"Shut up."

"Honestly, Wise Girl. That's a pretty serious lack of foresight on your part."

"Shut up, Percy."

"I'm not entirely certain I'm comfortable having you as my protector if you wander around unarmed."

"Seaweed Brain, I'm warning you-"

"I mean, I don't know much about this demigod thing, but that seems like a fairly stupid thing to do."

"Don't call me stupid."

"We're both going to die because you didn't bring a sword. That qualifies as extreme stupidity on your part."

"ATHENA ALWAYS HAS A PLAN!" screamed Annabeth, launching herself at Lassie, but not before smacking Percy in the side of the head with the crutch first. Just for good measure.

Percy Jackson learnt an important fact about Annabeth Chase that day. Even when wielding a weapon as seemingly harmless as a crutch, the golden-haired daughter of Athena could decapitate _anything_. Needless to say, that was the last time the son of Poseidon ever called her stupid. He was rather attached to his head.

Their relationship did not improve over the course of the next few months but their interactions would follow a distinct pattern. Percy would do something stupid. A monster would take advantage of said stupidity. Annabeth would arrive just in time to kick the monster's ass and save Percy's. Grover would chomp his way through several tin cans and, on one unpleasant occasion involving three Cyclopes and a dwarf, all four tyres of the school bus.

"Hey, I eat when I'm nervous!"

The daughter of Athena was beginning to suspect that Percy was purposefully finding trouble in order to talk to her. It was completely unnecessary. Admittedly, she did avoid him like he was an uncooked piece of chicken, riddled with salmonella, but that was still no reason to carry out actions of sheer stupidity on a regular basis. She would rather he just _talk_ to her than provoke a hydra into blowing up half the school and eating several cheerleaders. There were easier ways to get a girl's attention.

It was to her great surprise, therefore, when Percy approached her in the cafeteria one lunch time.

"Hi, Wise Girl. Can I sit?"

Annabeth blinked at him. Percy's dark hair was ruffled and his sea-green eyes shifted nervously. His hands gripped his tray so tightly; his knuckles had turned an unpleasant shade of white.

"Did you bring another Minotaur to school?" she asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing in confusion, "because I still haven't told Thalia about the last incident and I can't afford to keep subtly replacing my destroyed clothes."

In her infinite wisdom, Annabeth had opted to withhold many of the monster-related events from the daughter of Zeus. If she knew Thalia, and gods knew she did, the woman would go bananas at the idea of so many creatures attacking two semi-defenceless high school students. The last thing Annabeth needed was Thalia snooping around the school in an attempt to prevent any more attacks. Social services would go crazy. Besides, her guardian had reunited with a former camper at college and the two were getting along famously. Needless to say, she was rather distracted.

"No, it's not another Minotaur," answered Percy, dropping his tray next to hers and taking a seat, "it's Grover."

Whilst Annabeth had avoided the son of Poseidon like the plague, Grover had practically adopted the boy. Percy, once he had wrapped his mind around the whole half goat affair, had responded in kind. It was unusual to see one without the other and it was with a horrible sinking sensation that Annabeth realised that the satyr was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?" she hissed.

"That's the thing," said Percy, shrugging helplessly, "I have no idea. One minute we were walking to lunch, the next minute a tree talks to him, he totally freaks out and runs off! He could be anywhere in the city by now!"

"We're going to have to go and find him, aren't we?" groaned Annabeth, "honestly, without Juniper, he's useless."

"Who's Juniper?"

"His girlfriend. She's a tree."

"Oh, well...um...that's awesome?"

"It is," responded Annabeth, already plotting an escape from school, "I've never met a couple so in love."

"...don't goats eat trees?"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

"Right, demigod thing. Got it."

And so, the two young demigods found themselves aimlessly wandering the streets of New York, calling Grover's name. Annabeth snorted. It had been ridiculously easy to escape from school; no-one had even noticed their disappearance. They had just jumped out of a window. Not the most elegant escape, to be sure, but it certainly achieved their end goal.

"GROVER!"

Percy struggled to peer over the top of the bustling crowd of people.

"G-MAN, WHERE ARE YOU?"

Annabeth elbowed the son of Poseidon in the ribs.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain. You're going to attract every single monster in the vicinity."

"GROOOOoooOVER!"

"Seaweed Brain!"

Percy laughed and darted forward to avoid Annabeth's elbow.

"Relax, Wise Girl. I'm sure he's fine. I'll admit that I was slightly concerned before but, to be entirely fair, a tree had just talked to me. I was entitled to freak out."

"Wait," frowned Annabeth, "the tree actually spoke to you?"

"Yeah. Something about another demigod. The term 'Big Three' was thrown in there somewhere too. Grover went crazy."

"What? Big Three?"

"See, when you do things like that, I find myself more confused than before. What are the Big Three?"

"Not _what_," responded Annabeth, rolling her eyes, "_who_. Did you listen at all in History?"

"Nope."

"The Big Three are the three elder Greek Gods. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. You're the child of Poseidon, which makes you the child of the Big Three."

"Does that make me more awesome than you?"

"No-one is more awesome than me, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."

"Alright," shrugged Percy. After all, _he_ could not decapitate a hellhound with a blunt metal object. Annabeth's argument did hold some weight. "So why did Grover run off?"

"Didn't you say that the tree mentioned something about another demigod?" asked the daughter of Athena, her brow creasing in thought, "it must have meant another child of the Big Three."

"Is that a problem?"

"Yeah. Big Three kids tend to have a whole lot of power and very few brain cells. The new guy could blow up half of New York and not even realise."

"Hey!"

"What?"

"I have brain cells!"

"Sure you do, Seaweed Brain."

"So," grunted Percy, shooting a dirty glare at his smirking companion, "if we find this kid, we'll probably find Grover?"

"It's very likely, yes."

"Brilliant. How difficult can it be to find a ridiculously overpowered kid and a satyr in New York?"

As it turned out, very difficult indeed. The two teenagers searched fruitlessly for hours and hints of darkness were beginning to creep into the streaky red sky. Percy collapsed on a bench outside a small coffee shop, pulling Annabeth down with him.

"This is hopeless," he groaned, "where could they be?"

Annabeth leaned her head on his shoulder and absentmindedly rejected another phone call. The daughter of Athena's mobile phone had been ringing continuously from about an hour into their search. Clearly the school had noticed their absence. Percy glanced at the small device.

"That your dad?"

"My dad?" asked Annabeth in confusion, straightening up to look Percy in the eye, "why would you think that?"

"Well, your mom's a god. You must live with your dad."

"No," laughed the blonde, "I haven't lived with my dad since I was seven. I live with my aunt."

"Your aunt?"

"Yeah, on my mom's side. Aunt Thalia. She's a demigod."

Annabeth watched in amusement as the cogs in Percy's seaweed filled brain worked overtime. His brow was creased in deep thought and his eyes narrowed.

"That would make her a daughter of Zeus?"

"Yes! Congratulations! Points for Seaweed Brain!"

Percy stood and took a deep bow at her mocking applause.

"Thank you, thank you."

"That's disgusting."

Percy jumped at the sound of the new voice and Annabeth instinctively dropped into a battle stance.

"Who's there?"

"Honestly, young couples. Always flirting."

"We're not a couple," offered Percy, helpfully, "she's my protector."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain. Reveal yourself!"

A grubby old man rolled out from underneath the bench and grinned a yellow smile at the two demigods. His clothes were tattered and his dirty long beard was caked in dirt and dust.

"Hello."

Percy screamed. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Relax, Percy. He's just an old man."

The man's wrinkled face scowled at the blonde, his beard twitching in irritation.

"Just an old man? How rude! I'll have you know that, in my day, daughters of Athena weren't so quick to make judgements."

Annabeth and Percy froze and stared at the old man.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, I suppose in my day, I was also known as the Ghost King," mused the man, "now I'm just 'that crazy guy under the bench.'"

Annabeth's eyes widened. Grabbing Percy's elbow, she took a step back.

"I think we've found our child of the Big Three," she hissed.

"What?" blinked Percy, "but he's old!"

"Shut up! That's Nico di Angelo! Son of Hades!"

"But he's old!"

"Duh, Seaweed Brain. He was born in the 1940s! He disappeared around thirty years ago. No-one's seen him since!"

"Yes, that was the plan," muttered Nico, "but then that idiot satyr turned up."

"Grover?" asked Percy, hopefully.

"Most likely," admitted Annabeth.

"All I wanted was some peace and quiet," ranted Nico, "no more 'sign my t-shirt, Nico,' or 'raise the dead for me, Nico,' or 'your Dad's so cool, Nico."

He hopped to his feet with agility surprising for an old man in his seventies and began to pace. Suddenly, he whirled around and pointed at Percy, the quivering digit just centimetres from the son of Poseidon's face.

"How did you find me, boy?"

"And girl," huffed Annabeth.

"A tree told me?" offered Percy, nervously.

"ARRGH! Curse those trees!" screamed Nico, "such _gossips_!"

"Are crazy people attracted to me or something?" asked Percy, warily taking a step back, "because this is getting ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? I'll show _you_ ridiculous! Face my undead army, boy!"

The ground rumbled ominously and the son of Poseidon squeaked. Buildings began to shake and cars were forced to swerve to avoid enormous cracks appearing in the road. Bony hands burst through the pavement, grasping at the feet of screaming pedestrians.

Nico cackled manically.

"You shall now know the true meaning of fear! It is time to prove your worth as a hero, boy!"

There was a sudden thump and Nico's eyes widened. He crumpled to the ground, his beard rippling in the wind. Behind his unconscious body, Annabeth whipped off her magical Yankee's cap of invisibility and twirled Grover's crutch in her hand.

"And girl."

It was decided that they would bring the unconscious Nico back to Annabeth's apartment, much to the horror of the girl in question. Unfortunately for the pair, the crazy old man was the only one who knew Grover's location and, as Percy helpfully pointed out, they could not just leave him in the street. If they ever wanted to see the satyr again, they would need Nico.

It was an odd sight. Two teenagers dragging the snoring body of an old homeless man through the streets of New York. Fortunately, Annabeth was talented at lying under pressure, so they were able to deflect most scrutiny. Unfortunately, Nico would occasionally scream things in Ancient Greek, most of them insults aimed at Percy. Percy could not understand the aforementioned insults but, from the pink tinge in Annabeth's cheeks, he could deduce that they were not polite.

Their only real problem occurred in the lobby of Annabeth's apartment during which they discovered that the elevator was out of order and were forced to drag Nico up seven flights of stairs. The two demigods did not experience a great deal of guilt over the numerous times the elderly man's head smacked off a step. After all, the guy _had_ sent an undead army after them. Once they reached the apartment, Annabeth inserted her keys into the lock and swung the door open, gesturing for Percy to drag Nico into the relative safety of her living room.

"Hey guys!"

Percy and Annabeth dropped the old man on the floor unceremoniously and straightened up in shock. Lounging on the couch was the missing satyr. Grover stared at the two demigods and then at Nico.

"Thalia!" he called, his baffled stare fixed on the old man, "Annabeth's home and it looks like she and Percy have kidnapped a hobo!"

There was a clattering noise in the kitchen and a dishevelled Thalia Grace burst through the door and into the living room.

"Annabeth Chase!"

"Hey, Thals," offered Annabeth, nervously, her eyes wide with poorly concealed fear, "I thought you had a date?"

"So did I," hissed Thalia, "but then I received a phone call informing me that my 'niece' had disappeared. So Luke and I came home, hoping to reach you on your mobile. No such luck there!"

Thalia's voice became shrill and she took a deep breath to calm herself. In the background, Annabeth spotted Luke shuffling his feet awkwardly and she felt a twinge of guilt. Thalia and Luke had been mere acquaintances at camp and so their relationship had come as a slight shock. The daughter of Athena always had difficulty imagining the hard-as-nails Thalia with the well-spoken son of Hermes. Nevertheless, the two understood each other perfectly and were slowly but surely rubbing off on the other. For example, Thalia no longer framed her 'Death to Barbie' t-shirts and Luke had finally shed his unnatural love of sweater-vests.

"Why is there a homeless man drooling on my carpet?" growled Thalia, apparently noticing Nico for the first time.

"Technically, he's our cousin," inserted Percy, flinching as Thalia's glare turned to him, "he kidnapped Grover."

"So you decided to kidnap him instead?"

"It was all Annabeth's idea!" cried Percy.

"It was not! I was completely fine with leaving him unconscious in the street! Seaweed Brain made me bring him home!"

"He was the only one who knew where Grover was being held!"

"We would have figured it out!"

"Really, Wise Girl? Were you willing to _bet_ Grover's _life_ on it?"

"Athena always has a plan!"

"I would have loved to have heard it! Oh well. Maybe the _next_ time one of our friends is kidnapped and fighting for his life-"

"GROVER WASN'T KIDNAPPED!" screamed Thalia, clearly irritated by both the drool on her carpet and the mounting argument. "He is sitting _right there_ on the couch!"

Grover waved.

"Holy Zeus," muttered Luke, emerging from the kitchen and crouching down next to Nico, "I think this is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades."

"Dude," responded Percy, breaking the glare fixed on Annabeth, "that's old news."

"Yeah," nodded Annabeth, reluctantly agreeing with the son of Poseidon, "we kind of realised that when he sent his undead army after us."

Luke poked Nico in the cheek and withdrew the digit rapidly as the old man's teeth snapped at the finger.

"I shall kill you all," murmured Nico in his sleep.

"Fantastic," groaned Thalia, "they kidnapped a homicidal hobo."

Percy glanced at Grover.

"So you weren't kidnapped?"

"Nope."

"Then where were you?"

"I went looking for a demigod," admitted Grover, "and I found Nico. He threatened me, so I left. Unlike you and Annabeth, however, I did not knock him out and drag him home."

"What are we going to do with him?" asked Annabeth, nudging the elderly man with her toe, ignoring the disapproving stare Thalia sent her way, "we can't just let a Big Three demigod wander the streets."

"No, Annie," warned Thalia, "we are not keeping him. If you'd brought home a mangy cat, I would have said no. There's no way I'm letting that crazy old man sleep on our couch."

Nico stayed at the apartment for the next four months. Although he was clearly bat-shit crazy, the old man proved to be a valuable addition to the small group of demigods and, once he had taken a shower, smelled considerably better. Thalia was certainly not amused with his prolonged stay in her home but found it very difficult to resist the puppy-dog eyes of Annabeth, Percy and Luke. Annabeth and Luke were curious about his past. After all, Nico was the longest living demigod they had ever met. Percy just thought the old guy was like an odd mixture of Gandalf and Yoda and it was clearly not safe to release him into the streets. This image was cemented in the teenager's mind when Nico became Percy's self-appointed personal trainer. The boy in question was less than thrilled with the sudden development but, had to admit, the old coot knew his way around a sword. Unfortunately, however, it also meant that, on top of homework, Percy now had 'Hero Training everyday on the roof of Annabeth's apartment building.

"You must become one with your sword, boy!"

"I don't even _have_ a sword! Stop trying to kill me!"

Percy dodged the lethal swipe of a skeleton warrior and glared at Nico. The old man was standing proudly by a water tank, his long beard billowing in the wind. He looked every inch the legendary demigod trainer, if one disregarded his bright orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and the pair of aviator sunglasses decorating his wrinkled face.

"You don't?" frowned Nico, "well, _that's _ a rather large oversight on my part."

He glanced at Annabeth. The daughter of Athena was settled on the fire escape, fully engrossed in a thick book of architecture.

"Oi! Girlie!"

"What?" asked Annabeth, reluctantly dragging her eyes from the printed words.

"Do you have a sword? Boy, here needs one."

"I have a name," muttered Percy, "and it's not 'boy' and it's not 'Seaweed Brain.' But does anyone ever listen? Noooooo."

Annabeth reached into her pocket and pulled out a pen. She tossed it to Percy and returned to her book. The son of Poseidon clumsily caught the pen and stared at Annabeth incredulously.

"This is a _pen_! What do you want me to do? Write him to death?"

"A true hero can turn anything into a weapon, boy!" screamed Nico as Percy ducked under the skeleton's sword, still glaring at an oblivious Annabeth.

Percy uncapped the pen and almost dropped the object in shock as it transformed into a blade.

"Not quite what I meant," admitted Nico, "but that'll work."

"This is awesome!" cried Percy, awkwardly decapitating the undead warrior and hoisting the sword above his head in a supposedly heroic gesture, "I shall name this blade...DEATH SLAYER!"

"That's lame," offered the old man.

"And the sword already has a name," interjected Annabeth, briefly glancing up from her book, "you don't get to name it."

"Why not?" whined Percy, "Death Slayer is the perfect name for a sword."

"Because it used to be Hercules' sword, Seaweed Brain, and he was cooler than you. He named it Riptide."

"...that's possibly more awesome that Death Slayer."

"Well, Death Slayer was lame," said Nico, examining a stain on his t-shirt, "so Riptide is obviously better."

"Shut up, old man."

Annabeth was impressed. Under Nico's tutelage, Percy was slowly but surely becoming an accomplished swordsman. Admittedly, he had yet to defeat any of his companions in battle besides Grover, but that was due to the fact that she herself was deadly with a knife, Thalia could _electrocute _people and Nico possessed the ability to summon an undead army. Luke was a son of Hermes, so he just cheated.

Thalia's boyfriend was slowly integrating himself into Annabeth's small family, which was both mildly worrying and slightly pleasing. On one hand, the blonde genuinely liked Luke. He adored Thalia and always had a warm smile for the daughter of Athena. He was not afraid to splurge on gifts either, the celestial bronze knife he had given the young demigod must have cost a pretty penny. On the other hand, however, Annabeth was scared. Although Luke understood that Thalia and Annabeth came as a package deal - they always had - she was constantly plagued by the irrational fear that Luke and Thalia would get married, have a bunch of kids and leave her in the dust. The daughter of Zeus was the only family Annabeth had and the thought of losing her, even to someone as lovely as Luke, was unbearable. She felt guilty for harbouring such a foolish terror and it was the guilt that eventually prompted her to confess to Percy. Percy, despite being an undeniable kelp-head, seemed to understand.

"I felt the same thing about my mom and stepdad," he admitted, stretching his aching muscles and kicking his feet up on the arm of Annabeth's couch, "I got so used to it just being me and my mom, I couldn't imagine how Paul would fit in. I was terrified that I'd be replaced by tiny Blofis-Jackson babies."

"But that's happened to me before," sighed Annabeth from her place on the floor, "when my dad got married. I was replaced by my brothers."

"Was that when you ran away?"

Annabeth's eyes widened and she whirled around to stare at Percy.

"How did you know about that?"

"Grover mentioned it. He said he met you and Thalia when you were living on the streets together."

"I'm going to kill that goat."

"Don't," laughed Percy, "I sort of pressured him into spilling the beans. I was curious."

"About what?"

"About you. It's not a crime is it?"

"No," admitted Annabeth, reluctantly, leaning against the couch, "but you could have just asked me."

"And risk losing my head? No thanks, Wise Girl. G-man's a lot less lethal with those crutches."

"That's true."

The pair drifted off into silence, each totally absorbed in their own thoughts. Annabeth was the first to break the stillness.

"What do you want to know?"

"Sorry?"

"You said you were curious about me. What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

And so Annabeth told him as much as she was able. About her father's distance, her stepmother's distain, the birth of her brothers, the monsters, the fights, the conflict and eventually, her decision to leave home.

"I was only seven," she admitted quietly, playing with the hem of her shirt, "but I knew that I couldn't stay there. I was putting them in danger. So I left."

"And the monsters followed?"

"Yeah," nodded Annabeth, "that's how I met Thalia. I was being attacked by a hellhound. It was a fairly small one but, at seven, it felt like I was battling Cerberus. I had lost a lot of blood and was fading quickly. The last thing I remember before I passed out was the sight of Thalia bombing into the alleyway. Apparently, Athena had directed her to me. She was only twelve but she took me under her wing, fed me, clothed me and protected me until Grover found us. I owe her everything."

"Even as a kid, Thalia was awesome," chuckled Percy, "and it sounds like she'd ditch Luke if you had a problem with him."

"And that's why I'm so annoyed at myself," said Annabeth, "Thalia deserves a chance to be happy and she's happy with Luke. I don't want my stupid worries to ruin what they have."

"Y'know," mused Percy, absentmindedly playing with a curl of Annabeth's blonde hair, "I can understand why you'd be scared about losing Thalia, given your history and everything. But Thalia's not your dad, Wise Girl. No matter how many blonde-haired, blue-eyed mini-Luke babies she pops out, she's not going to just forget about you."

"Logically, I _know_ that, but it doesn't make it any easier to believe."

"It seems to me, then" said Percy, slowly, "that I'm probably not the one you should be discussing this with. Besides," he grinned, "if Luke sends monsters to kidnap Thalia, invade her brain and force her to leave you behind, at least you'll still have me, Grover and crazy old Nico."

"Good," laughed Annabeth, "because if that does happen, I'll need your help hunting down Luke and kicking his ass."

"Aww," whined Percy, "but he cheats!"

The daughter of Athena was a great deal more secure with Luke's position in her family after discussing the matter with Percy. Seaweed Brain, however, had apparently decided to be thorough in dispelling her fears as a week later, Thalia had brought up the subject while she and Annabeth were unpacking shopping.

"I've been meaning to talk to you," remarked the daughter of Zeus, as she struggled to fit a large uncooked chicken in the freezer, "I had an interesting chat with Percy yesterday."

Annabeth stiffened, slowly placed an enormous bag of lettuce in the fridge and struggled to keep her voice neutral.

"Oh really? What about?"

"You're a daughter of Athena, Annie," snorted Thalia, "playing dumb doesn't suit you."

She gave the uncooperative chicken a kick, slammed the freezer door shut and leaned against the counter, her electric blue eyes following Annabeth's every move.

"Maybe you could give me a hint?" the blonde joked weakly, "Seaweed Brain talks a lot of rubbish. I can't be expected to know what he's on about _all_ the time."

"It was about me and Luke."

"Oh."

"Annabeth," sighed Thalia, "why didn't you talk to me about this? I'm mildly insulted that you went to Kelp-Face first."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologise. Talking to Percy isn't a crime. I'm glad you talked to _someone _about how you feel rather than bottling it all up like you usually do. But now that I know, we have to talk about it."

"Do we have to?"

"Absolutely, Owl-Head. You and I are family. We have been since I saved your butt from that hellhound and Luke being a part of our lives isn't going to change that."

"I know, but I..."

"But what?"

"I'm still scared," admitted Annabeth, quietly, her face flushing red in embarrassment, "it's stupid, but I'm still terrified."

"It's not stupid," frowned Thalia, "and you certainly don't need to be embarrassed about being scared. Do you remember when we first arrived at Camp Half-Blood?"

"Vaguely. I remember you kicking up a stink about the separate cabins."

"Absolutely. For the first few weeks we were at Camp, I was terrified that you would find a new family with your siblings and completely forget about me."

"But I didn't."

"Oh I know. I think I finally realised that I was stuck with you when you broke into my cabin during the middle of the night because there was a spider in your bunk."

"I remember that."

"You should," laughed Thalia, "you refused to go back to your cabin for three nights. Chiron had to carry you out. The point is, you didn't forget about me. I'm not going to leave you. If it came down to a choice between you and Luke, you'd win every time. Luke knows that. It was something I made very clear when we started our relationship. You're stuck with me, kid."

"T-thanks Thals."

"Annie, are you crying? Zeus, I knew your abandonment issues ran deep but-"

Thalia did not get to finish her sentence as she was tackled by her young charge. Annabeth certainly did not class herself as a 'hugger' but Thalia was family. She would make an exception. Needless to say, a girls' night ensued. Well, a girls' and Nico night. The old man was difficult to get rid of. Especially when there was ice cream.

Although he had only been her roommate for a short time, Annabeth could not imagine life without the son of Hades. Admittedly, he was crazy and could not cook to save his life, but watching him and Thalia duke it out for the hot water in the mornings was always fantastic entertainment and the old guy was indispensable when she, Grover and Percy were asked to write a paper on WWII. Not only was Nico alive at the time, but he also took them for a quick jaunt down to the Underworld to interview several ex-soldiers. Thalia had not been amused. Percy, on the other hand, had been ecstatic, the paper had resulted in his first ever A.

"Congratulations to our A virgin!" cried Thalia, raising her glass of orange juice and grinning at Percy, "who has finally shed his A virginity!"

"Grover and Annabeth did most of the work," blushed Percy, "and it's thanks to Nico that we were able to do so well."

Nico just grunted and waved away the praise. The small group had gathered in Annabeth's apartment to share the news of the Big A. Thalia, despite having expected a good grade from Annabeth, was still delighted with the result and she and Luke had decided to crack open the expensive orange juice in celebration.

"Don't sell yourself short, Seaweed Brain," laughed Annabeth, "it was your idea to include the perspective of the German soldiers as well as the Allies. That was a stroke of genius."

"And you know if _Annabeth_ says it was smart," interjected Grover, grinning like a lunatic, "it must be."

"But still," argued Percy, "a toast to our crazy mentor who, despite almost getting us eaten by Cerberus, was an invaluable resource and instrumental in achieving our A."

"You were almost eaten by Cerberus?"

"Let it go, Thals."

"It was more like a little nibble, really."

"Besides," cackled Nico, "near-death experiences are good for the soul. Perhaps not for mortality, but they certainly build character."

He slapped Percy on the shoulder, ignoring the son of Poseidon's wince.

"See! Boy, here has ten times more spunk now! That's all thanks to Cerberus."

"He was kind of friendly," mused Annabeth, "he seemed to like me. Maybe I should get a three-headed dog?"

"Don't even think about it, Annie," warned Thalia, "you wanted a pet, I let you keep Death-Breath. Don't push your luck."

Nico looked mildly offended at his new moniker and Luke hurriedly interrupted before a new argument erupted.

"Well, anyway," he chuckled, nervously eyeing Nico and Thalia, "congratulations, guys. Anyone who can get past Cerberus deserves an A."

"Thanks, man," grinned Percy, "and almost getting eaten was worth seeing the look on my mom's face when I told her about the A. She looked as if-"

A knock on the door interrupted Percy and Thalia frowned in confusion.

"That's weird. It's a bit late for visitors."

Nevertheless, she placed her glass on the table and rose to her feet. She peered out of the spy-hole and blinked in surprise. The group would never know exactly what Sally Jackson had looked like upon hearing of the A. As soon as Thalia swung open the door, Annabeth knew that life was about to become infinitely more complicated. Standing on their doorstep was a twelve year-old girl garbed in a shimmering silver jacket.

"Um, hi," she offered, smiling slightly at the surrounding demigods, "my name is Bianca di Angelo. I'm a Hunter. Is my little brother here?"

"Oh, Hades," groaned Nico, "she's found me."

"Nico!" frowned Bianca, "where the Hades have you been? Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?"

"This is weird," muttered Percy, leaning towards Annabeth, "she's, like, twelve and she's yelling at Nico."

"If it's any consolation," chuckled the daughter of Athena, "the only one who looks as if she's enjoying herself is Thalia."

And indeed, the daughter of Zeus was taking great pleasure in watching the small child berate the bane of her existence.

"Would you like to come in?" she offered, sweetly, "we have orange juice."

"That would be lovely," beamed Bianca, "I'm glad to know that my baby brother found himself in such good company."

"Percy and Annabeth kidnapped him off the streets," frowned Grover.

"Shut up!" hissed the demigods in question.

Fortunately, it did not seem as if the Hunter had heard the satyr's comment and Percy and Annabeth allowed themselves to relax. Nico did not.

"How did you find me?" he grunted, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"Father recognised your essence entering the Underworld. We were able to trace you from there."

"Curses!" scowled Nico, "I knew doing a good thing for children would ruin my life!"

"Stop being so dramatic, old man," said Thalia, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Personally," sniffed Bianca, her eyes becoming filmy and moist, "I have never been more disappointed in you, Nico. When I left with the Hunters, I thought you would be responsible. Clearly I was wrong. How do you think it made me feel to find out that my only brother was missing?"

"Meh," shrugged Nico.

"Father wishes for you to return to Camp Half-Blood," sighed his sister, frowning slightly at his nonchalance, "he saw the way you trained the son of Poseidon and feels that you would be able to assist Chiron greatly."

"What?"

"I say 'wishes', Nico, but he has ordered you to return to Camp Half-Blood." Bianca faltered slightly, "I am sorry."

For the first time since the old man had rolled out from underneath the bench, Annabeth witnessed a new emotion flash across the son of Hades' face. Loneliness. It shattered her stupor and she rose to her feet.

"He can't go!"

To her great surprise, her words had taken a considerably more masculine tone and she blinked in shock. She glanced to her right and realised that the words had not emerged from her mouth. Percy stood next to her, his face distraught.

"Can't Hades see that he hates it there?" asked Percy, gesturing wildly at his trainer, "he has no-one! You joined the Hunters and everyone's scared of him because he's a raving lunatic!"

"Thanks, boy."

"With us he has a family! We care about the old coot! You can't just make him leave!"

"I'm not the one ordering him back to Camp," said Bianca, "if it was up to me, I would leave him here. However, my father has ordered his return and if there's one God you don't disobey, it's Hades."

"She's right," sighed Thalia, "Hades holds grudges. He's not someone you want as your enemy."

"Thals," began Annabeth, "we can protect him. He doesn't need to go back-"

"I can't ask you to do that for me, girl," chuckled Nico, "you people have been good to me and it seems rather rude to invoke my father's unending wrath on you after all your hospitality."

He glanced at Bianca.

"I'll return to Camp Half-Blood. But only on one condition."

"Name your price, Nico."

"Boy, girl and idiot satyr have to visit during the summer. If Chiron is as boring as I remember, I'll need some sort of distraction."

Thalia grinned.

"I think that can be arranged. Luke and I have wanted to go on a romantic getaway for a while now. It'll be nice to not have to worry about my apartment being full of teenagers." The daughter of Zeus wiggled her eyebrows at Luke, "and there will be considerably fewer distractions."

Annabeth threw up a little bit in her mouth.

"Excellent," beamed Nico, his wrinkled face crinkling even more as he smiled, "while the daughter of Zeus and the son of Hermes are getting their freak on-"

Barf.

"-we can do something fun. Like go on a Quest! We can fight monsters! Oooh, this is so exciting! Let's go Bianca, I have much to plan!"

The elderly demigod clapped his hands together giddily and vanished from the room. Bianca blinked in surprise before sighing and walking to the door. She glanced at Annabeth, Percy and Grover.

"Good luck this summer," she said, wearily, "Gods know, you're going to need it."

Bianca's comment did not exactly fill Annabeth with a great deal of confidence and she found herself trying to imagine exactly what Nico had in store for them. The thought filled her with dread. However, summer came, as summer always does, and she found herself standing on top of Half-Blood Hill with Percy and Grover far sooner than she had expected. Thalia honked the horn of her battered, little car and she and Luke waved at the trio.

"Don't do anything too dangerous, Annie!" she screamed as they drove off, "I'll kick your ass if you do anything stupid! And I'll know! I have spies everywhere!"

Annabeth just laughed. Percy glanced at her warily.

"We're not going to do anything dangerous, right?"

"Are you kidding, Seaweed Brain?" chuckled the blonde, "do you remember how much trouble we got into outside of Camp?"

"It's difficult to forget, Wise Girl."

"Well, Camp Half-Blood," grinned Annabeth, leaning on Percy's shoulder, "is where they legitimise dangerous situations. Camp Half-Blood is where they say, "Hey, we've got a bunch of kids. Let's send them to do stupid life-threatening things like stealing a golden apple that just happens to be guarded by an enormous dragon."

"Oh. So, different from other summer camps, then?"

"Mmm. It's probably going to be worse this summer. We've got crazy old Nico to deal with as well."

Percy paled.

"That IS a problem."

"Relax, Percy," laughed Grover, "you've got me and Annabeth to keep you safe."

"I'm your protector, remember?" grinned the daughter of Athena, "I promise I won't let you die horribly."

"Well, that's a relief."

"Maiming, I'll allow. It builds character."

"Thanks, Wise Girl. You know how to make a guy feel loved."

As she and Grover laughed at the unimpressed expression on Percy's face, Annabeth realised something. She had been wrong about Seaweed Brain. He could not breathe rainbows or fart butterflies and he had not yet impressed her. He was still clumsy and Gods knew, he was still an idiot. But Camp Half-Blood needed him. She needed him. And with that realisation only came one thought.

_"Oh, Hades."_

Somewhere, Aphrodite was laughing.

...

**AN –**Congratulations! You reached the end! Thanks for sticking with me. Right, I'll deal with the most obvious thing first. Thalia's not a pine tree. She was never a pine tree. Because there was no prophecy, Maria di Angelo did not die and Hades did not feel the need to send hoards of monsters after Thalia in a twisted act of revenge, so she made it to Camp safely.

Nico is old because there was never a pact made by the Big Three so he and Bianca were never put in the Lotus Casino. Bianca's still a Hunter because, let's be honest, Nico was an irritating kid. I'd want to get rid of him too.

Luke is not evil. Because Maria di Angelo never died, Hades never cursed the Oracle. Therefore, May Castellan never went crazy and Luke grew up happy and loved and developed a fetish for sweater-vests.

Because Luke was never working for Kronos, he never stole the Master Bolt which, as we all know, led to Percy arriving at Camp Half-Blood in the first place. Percy remained happy and oblivious right up until Annabeth and Grover arrived at his school and basically ruined his life. Nice one, guys.


End file.
